Indigenization

Closely linked to the concept of inculturalization is the idea of indigenization. Besides making the Truth of God relevant and culturally sensitive, it must be allowed to be expressed with local flavours and characteristics. Christ did not come to overturn every stone, He lived in the culture and worked with the culture. We too, must be careful not to reject everything in our cultures. Of course, there will be certain forms that have to be discarded, especially those with religious connotations. But yet we can think of creative ways of replacing them. Rather than just blindly sticking to our Christian traditions and imposing our ways on others, we need to be magnanimous enough to accept the heritage of others. Bearing all these in mind, we can build an indigenous church without forcefully imposing our own culture on others.